Card aligning device



F. A. DIGILIO CARD ALIGNING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY June 9,1964 Filed July 5, 1962 ll ill tlllllllvllllilll llllllllll wma: 02.522

June 9, 1964 F. A. DlGlLlO CARD ALIGNING DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledJuly 3, 1962 Eilliiiii.W

mm 0 g m R". 06 W mm VA w 8 mK m J v m 0 F Z mm mm R m 4| \J A H mw ilwmm w zrwm 9 0 2 2 S m O m m2: OZEUZDm ATTORNEY 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 F. A.DlGlLlO CARD ALIGNING DEVICE June 9, 1964 Filed July 5, 1962 ATTORNEYUnited States Patent Deiaware Filed July 3, 1962, Ser. No. 207,334 3(Ilaims. (Cl. 271-55) This invention relates generally to sheet or cardhandling machines and, more particularly, to devices operating inconjunction with the card feeding mechanism of such machines foraligning a sheet or card in precise registration with other machineelements operating on the card during its course of feed through themachine.

The invention is herein disclosed in an embodiment adapted for use withhigh speed card advancing mechanism of the type shown in co-pendingapplication of Anthony Raggozino et al., Serial No. 189,806, filed April24, 1962. The mechanism disclosed in the aforesaid copending applicationoperates to advance record cards, feeding at high speed through themachine, in row by row or line by line steps past a line of punches andemploys a plurality of flexible pusher blades, reciprocally driven athigh speed, adapted to engage in succession the trailing edge of arecord card, each blade operating to advance a card one step. In astep-wise advancing mechanism of this sort, it has been found that therecord has a tendency to drift laterally during the course of each stepadvance and that after several steps of advance the cumulative amount ofdrift may become objectionable so as to cause subsequent rows of thecard to become considerably misaligned laterally with the processingstation through which it is advancing. The machine for which the presentinvention is adapted is designed for operation up to speeds of threehundred cards per minute with the step-wise advancing mechanismoperating to effect twelve stepping movements within each card feedcycle. Due to the high operating speeds involved, it has been found thatthe more conventional forms of aligning devices which are spring drivenand cam restored would be unsuitable due to the floating and bouncing ofthe cam follower at these high operating speeds.

The device according to the present invention is adaptable for operatingat the high speeds required by the type of equipment above described byreason of the fact that the aligning member is positively driven by camin the aligning direction and is spring restored, contrary to the moreconventional forms of aligning devices. The aligning members,furthermore, are mounted in a novel manner to provide a yield to givethe device compliance in instances where the record cards may beslightly over-sized due to excessive temperatures, humidity, or otherconditions beyond control.

It is therefore an object of this invention to enable the lateralalignment of records feeding step by step at high speed through a recordprocessing machine.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a record aligningdevice in which the aligning member is positively driven towards itseffective aligning position.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a positively drivenaligning member with a yieldable connection enabling the device tocomply with records of varying size.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a high speed recordaligning device which is reliable in operation, comprised of a minimumnumber of parts and economical to manufacture.

Further objects of the invention together with the features contributingthereto and advantages accruing therefrom will be apparent from thefollowing description when read in conjunction with the drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a record being advanced through the punchingstation of a business machine with the record aligned for punching inthe first row of index positions.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the mechanism shown in FIG. 1 showing themeans for driving the aligning member and including a showing of thestep-wise card advancing mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the record card justprior to its first step-wise advance and with the aligning member inretracted position.

FIG. 4 is a detail in section along the lines 4-4 of FIG. 1 illustratingthe yieldable coupling between the aligning member and its drivingmeans.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart illustrating the step-wise advance of a recordpast the punching station and the timing of the aligning devicecoordinated therewith.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the punching station for the record card 10includes a bed plate 11 for supporting the card during its step-wiseadvance past the punching line 12, said bed plate being formed withcut-away openings 13 in which are disposed card feed rollers 14 operablefor conveying a card up to the punching station The bed plate 11 is alsoformed at its right hand side with a milled-out area 15 in which issuitably secured by screws or the like a permanently fixed aligningblock 16 which, it will be understood, is thicker than the depth of thecut out in which it is mounted so as to provide a fixed aligning surface17 for the right hand edge of the card 10.

The opposed left hand area of the feed bed is similarly formed with amilled-out area 21 in which is slide fitted a reciprocable aligningblock 22 which also is thicker than the depth of the cut out 21 so as tobe engageable with the left hand edge of the card 10. Aligning isachieved by driving the block 22 towards the permanent aligning block 16at the time that the card is advanced into the first row punchingposition so as to urge the right hand edge of the card against the fixedaligning surface 17, in which position the card will be in correctlateral alignment with punches, not shown, arranged along the punchingline 12.

The aligning block 22 is formed with its central bottom surface milledout so as to provide the block with a structural configurationresembling an open and inverted box-like member comprised of end walls23, see also FIGS. 3 and 4, a top covering panel 24, partially brokenaway in FIG. 3, and a side wall 25 which serves as an aligning surfaceengageable with the left hand edge of the card 10. A pair of spacedapart leaf springs 26 are disposed across the milled-out portion of theblock 22, the ends of the springs being suitably anchored in slotsformed in the end walls 23. The springs 26 provide a yieldableconnecting means between the block 22 and its driving mechanism, whichmechanism includes a stud 27, see also FIG. 2, formed at the upperextremity of a rock arm 28 secured fast to one end of a pivot shaftPatented June 9, 1964.

AB 31. The shaft 31 is suitably journaled in a bearing member 32 securedto the frame of the machine and at its opposite ends carries a followerarm 33 supporting by means of a stud 34 a follower roller 35. A spring36 compressed between the follower arm 33 and the machine frame urgesthe follower roller into engagement with a face cam 37 carried by one ofthe driving shafts of the machine so that during rotation of the cam,the cam follower is positively driven for a predetermined portion ofeach machine cycle to move the aligning block 22 into aligning position.

As is shown, the two spring members as straddle the stud 27 whichprojects through an over-sized opening 38 formed in the bed plate 11 sothat the driving force of the cam is transmitted to the aligning block22 through the springs 26 whose tensile strength is such as to provide aslight amount of yield near the limit of each aligning stroke of thedriving mechanism. The extent of the driving stroke of the cam followermechanism is predetermined so as to cause a slight flexure of thedriving spring 26 when engaging cards of normal length. Thus, themechanism will accurately align cards which may be slightly shorter thannormal length and will also provide compliance for cards which may beslightly longer than normal length. A spring retainer clip 39 affixed tothe stud 27' secures the flexible connection between the aligning blockand the driving mechanism, it being understood that the top cover panel24 of the block is formed with an over-sized opening 41 for receivingand allowing relative movement between the connected parts in the mannerabove described.

The feeding of the cards can best be understood by reference to FIG. 2.Each card is conveyed from a preceding stage in the feed path up to thepunching station by means of the feed rollers 14 continuously rotatingand operating in cooperation with opposed feed rollers 45. At the timewhen the leading edge of the card approaches the punching line, acut-out portion 46 of the rollers 14 causes the feed rollers todisengage the card whereupon the stepwise advancing mechanism becomeseffective for pushing the card in steps past the punching line. As morefully described in the. aforementioned patent application, the step-wiseadvancing mechanism comprises a plurality of yieldable pusher blades 47,of which there are twelve in the present instance to provide twelvesteps of card movement, said springs being carried by a supportingframework 48. The frame 45 is connected by a flexible spring member 49to an eccentric follower 51 driven by an eccentric cam 52 carried on oneof the driving shafts of the machine. Longitudinal reciprocation of theframe by the mechanism just described causes the trailing edge of thecard 16 to be engaged in turn by successive pusher blades 47 causing thecard to be advanced in step-Wise manner past the punching line.

FIG. is a one cycle timing diagram of the step-Wise card advancingmechanism in a form which also illustrates the progress in inches of acard along the feed path. As can be seen from FIG. 5, after the feedrollers disengage the card at 16 of the cycle the first step advance ofthe card by the pusher blade mechanism occurs from 19 to 27 of the cyclewhich coincides with the time that the aligning block 22 is drivenpositively by the cam 37 into its aligning position. The simultaneousoperation of the aligning mechanism with the first step advance of thecard is an important factor contributing to reliable and effectiveoperation of the mechanism since the several pusher blades 47, togetherwith a suitable braking mechanism, not shown, bearing on the card createfriction so that, if the aligning block were to operate or be driven toaligning position during a pause in the step-wise advance of the card,the static friction of the card under this frictional load wouldinterfere with movement of the card into correct aligned registration.By timing the operation of the aligning mechanism concurrently with thefirst step advance of the card this problem is avoided, since the thruston the card by the aligning block is able to take advantage of thereduced kinetic friction of the card while being advanced to therebyfacilitate the lateral movement of the card into correct alignmentregistration. As can be seen by reference to the diagram of FIG. 5, thecard remains immobile for a period of 14 of the cycle whereupon thesecond step of advance occurs over a 10 portion of the cycle, the cardcontinuing in this manner at 14 and 10 intervals alternately until thecard step-wise advance is completed and the card again comes undercontrol of additional feed rolls, not shown, at about 308 of the cycle.The aligning block 22 is retracted at about 246 of the cycle and isfully retracted by 260 f the cycle so as to allow clearance for theleading edge of the succeeding card as it approaches the punchingstation. It is not necessary to retain the aligner in effective aligningposition during the final steps of card movement by the advancingmechanism, since it has been found that after the card has once beenaligned the amount of lateral drift occurring in one step of travel oreven the cumulative drift which might occur in two or three steps oftravel is of negligible extent.

The nature of the yieldable operation of the coupling between thealigning block 22 and its drive mechanism can best be seen by comparisonof FIG. 1 with FIG. 3. In FIG. 3 the aligner is shown in its retractedposition at a time just prior to the first step-Wise advance of thecard. In this position it will be noted that the coupling spring members26 are substantially straight since there is no strain imposed on eitherof them at this time. FIG. 1 shows the parts at the completion of thefirst step of card advance with the aligning block now actuated to urgethe card into bearing engagement with the permanent aligning block 16.It will be noted that the inner-most leaf spring 26 which transmits thedriving force to the block is somewhat bowed under these conditionsthereby indicating the extent of yielding compliance required forregistering the particular card shown in FIG. 1.

While there has been shown what is considered to be preferred embodimentof the invention it will, of course, be understood that modificationsand changes in form could be made without departing from the spirit ofthe invention, and it is, therefore, intended that the invention be notlimited to the exact form herein shown and described nor to anythingless than the whole of the invention as hereinbefore set forth and ashereinafter claimed.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. An aligning mechanism for effecting lateral registration of a recordmember being advanced step-wise along the feed path of a recordprocessing machine comprising,

(a) a fixed aligning member disposed along one side of said feed pathand defining a limit surface for one side edge of said record member,

(b) a reciprocable aligning member disposed on the opposite side of saidfeed path and movable from a retracted to an effective aligningposition, said reciprocable member when in the effective aligningposition presenting a guiding surface for the other side edge of saidrecord for urging said record into bearing contact with said fixedaligning member, said reciprocable aligning member being formed with asubstantially centrally located hollowed-out chamber bounded on oppositesides by confronting surfaces of said reciprocable aligning member, apair of spacedapart slits each extending generally parallel to saidguiding surface formed in each of two of said confronting surfaces, anda pair of spaced-apart leaf springs, the opposite ends of which arereceived in respective ones of said pairs of slits, whereby said leafsprings are mounted for bridging across said chamber, and

(c) cam driven means coupled with said reciprocable member and operatingin timed relation with the advance of said record member along said feedpath 3. The invention according to claim'l wherein said cam forpositively driving said reciprocable aligning driven means is timed tomove said reciprocable aligning member to its effective aligningposition and yieldmember to retracted position prior to the last stepadvance ably restoring said movable member to its retracted of saidrecord member along said feed path.

position, said cam driven means including a driver 5 member projectingsubstantially centrally into said References Cited in the file of thispatent chamber and between said leaf springs for two-way yieldabledriving engagement with said aligning UNITED STATES PATENTS member-1,418,117 Widell May 30, 1922 2. The invention according to claim 1wherein the op- 10 2,334,645 Pl b N 16, 1943 eration of said camoperated means is timed to move said 2 555 054 Watrous A 21, 195 1reciprocable aligning member into effective aligning posi- 2 595 30Benuche May 6, 1952 tion concurrently with the first step advance ofsaid 3 022,05 w id b 20 1962 record member along said feed path.

1. AN ALIGNING MECHANISM FOR EFFECTING LATERAL REGISTRATION OF A RECORDMEMBER BEING ADVANCED STEP-WISE ALONG THE FEED PATH OF A RECORDPROCESSING MACHINE COMPRISING, (A) A FIXED ALIGNING MEMBER DISPOSEDALONG ONE SIDE OF SAID FEED PATH AND DEFINING A LIMIT SURFACE FOR ONESIDE EDGE OF SAID RECORD MEMBER, (B) A RECIPROCABLE ALIGNING MEMBERDISPOSED ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF SAID FEED PATH AND MOVABLE FROM ARETRACTED TO AN EFFECTIVE ALIGNING POSITION, SAID RECIPROCABLE MEMBERWHEN IN THE EFFECTIVE ALIGNING POSITION PRESENTING A GUIDING SURFACE FORTHE OTHER SIDE EDGE OF SAID RECORD FOR URGING SAID RECORD INTO BEARINGCONTACT WITH SAID FIXED ALIGNING MEMBER, SAID RECIPROCABLE ALIGNINGMEMBER BEING FORMED WITH A SUBSTANTIALLY CENTRALLY LOCATED HOLLOWED-OUTCHAMBER BOUNDED ON OPPOSITE SIDES BY CONFRONTING SURFACES OF SAIDRECIPROCABLE ALIGNING MEMBER, A PAIR OF SPACEDAPART SLITS EACH EXTENDINGGENERALLY PARALLEL TO SAID GUIDING SURFACE FORMED IN EACH OF TWO OF SAIDCONFRONTING SURFACES, AND A PAIR OF SPACED-APART LEAF SPRINGS, THEOPPOSITE ENDS OF WHICH ARE RECEIVED IN RESPECTIVE ONES OF SAID PAIRS OFSLITS, WHEREBY SAID LEAF SPRINGS ARE MOUNTED FOR BRIDGING ACROSS SAIDCHAMBER, AND (C) CAM DRIVEN MEANS COUPLED WITH SAID RECIPROCABLE MEMBERAND OPERATING IN TIMED RELATION WITH THE ADVANCE OF SAID RECORD MEMBERALONG SAID FEED PATH FOR POSITIVELY DRIVING SAID RECIPROCABLE ALIGNINGMEMBER TO ITS EFFECTIVE ALIGNING POSITION AND YIELDABLY RESTORING SAIDMOVABLE MEMBER TO ITS RETRACTED POSITION, SAID CAM DRIVEN MEANSINCLUDING A DRIVER MEMBER PROJECTING SUBSTANTIALLY CENTRALLY INTO SAIDCHAMBER AND BETWEEN SAID LEAF SPRINGS FOR TWO-WAY YIELDABLE DRIVINGENGAGEMENT WITH SAID ALIGNING MEMBER.